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Congressman Boyle Fights Trumpcare in Budget Committee

March 16, 2017

Press Release

Washington, DC – Today, during the House Budget Committee’s markup of the Republican health care proposal, Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-13) fought to hold Republicans and President Trump accountable for their campaign promises—all of which appear to be broken since the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its nonpartisan analysis of the proposal.

Boyle gave the following statement as he offered an amendment to require the Administration to certify this legislation fulfills the President’s promises to the American people before the legislation may go into effect:

“The President promised that there would be no increase in the number of individuals without health insurance; that healthcare would become more affordable, with lower out-of-pocket-costs; and that the quality of health insurance would be better. Just this past January, President Trump said, ‘we’re going to have insurance for everybody,’ that ‘people can expect to have great health care,’ and that he is against the notion that ‘if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it.’ He also promised not to cut Medicare or Medicaid.

This bill breaks each of these promises. The American people deserve to know how our healthcare system could possibly be improved by taking insurance away from 24 million people, stripping $880 billion out of Medicaid over ten years, and shoveling $600 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans (which is nearly twice as much as this bill provides in premium and cost-sharing assistance to Americans who need it).

President Trump assured us: ‘We’re going to have insurance for everybody… much less expensive and much better.’ This motion simply requests a clear explanation as to why, under this bill, a typical 64 year old with an income of $26,500 would be forced to pay $14,600 in premiums by 2026, almost $13,000 more than what he or she pays now under Obamacare. How is that ‘less expensive and much better?’”

The Committee passed the bill by a vote of 19-17 with all Democrats in opposition. Now, the bill heads to the floor for a vote in the full House of Representatives. Congressman Boyle and other Congressional Democrats have vowed to fight the bill because it covers fewer Americans for higher cost, undermines care for older and vulnerable Americans, and provides hundreds of billions in tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, including health care CEOs.